sexual harassment

Last night my Macbook’s charger broke. It was old; it’s time was done. So, this morning I had to get a new one. Seems like a simple enough task, right?

Wrong.

I left my hotel room wearing a long sun dress (one hundred degrees, 80% humidity). And, as I walked the streets in search of an electronics store, the invasive shouts and stares of men left me with not a moment’s peace.

When I first came to Korea in 2000, I soon got used to the notion that people should use nopimmal (높임말; respectful language) to their obvious “superiors”, such as their parents and bosses. But also to friends, even if they were just a year or two older?

Of course, I’ve never been sexually harassed on an overnight bus myself, but then I’ve never seen it happen nor heard anyone ever complaining about it either. Are things really as bad as this article makes out?

And using manhwa (만화), or Korean cartoons, is a good place to start. Sadly, my favorite “grown-up” comic-book poptoon (팝툰) sold its last edition back in March, but there’s lot’s more where that came from.

Once again, Korea has gotten the lowest score of all high-income countries in a recent survey of gender-equality worldwide. And, at 104th out of 131 countries surveyed, it was bested by numerous much poorer countries at that.

Alas, actually it’s only about one lawmaker’s concern over the growing number of “lewd” internet advertisements these days, among which presumably that’s a common slogan. But that does underlie some of the street harassment and groping that many foreign women experience here, so it’s interesting in its own right.

Not that I ever really did think that women should consider street harassment as flattering of course, but this cartoon is eerily effective in getting that message across. It’s no wonder that’s it’s received nearly 300 comments over at Sociological Images.

But in Korea at least, perhaps the most appropriate revenge would have been to inflict the same back on the rapists? For I’ve just been shocked to learn that legally speaking, men can’t actually be the victims of rape here.